The mission had taken a hellish turn.
Cover Girl and Gung Ho had signaled to the others that they had discovered the base. All three teams had met at the rendezvous point, but they had not been alone. How the Cobra scouts had found them, none of them really knew. All three teams were certain they had covered their tracks. In the scuffle, only Snake Eyes, Duke, and Lady Jaye were able to escape. Immediately, they set on a plan to rescue their captured comrades.
Where Snake Eyes had found explosives, she would never know, but the three of them decided to literally blow their teammates out of the base. It would be enough of a distraction that they would be able to escape. At least that was the plan.
The ninja was the one who was able to sneak into the base and locate exactly where the Joes were being held. Fortunately, they had been moved to a temporary holding cell, and were going to be able to escape easily…with help. After discussing it with the other two, Snake Eyes snuck back in to assist.
It was Duke's job to set the explosives. Lady Jaye would distract the guards to cover both Duke and Snake Eyes.
At first, she debated playing the helpless female, but thought it might look suspicious, a lone woman in the jungle. Instead, she decided to use the superstitions of this particular area to help her out. Using her javelins (never leave home without them! she thought), she was able to make the guards think that several of the local legends were sneaking up on them. With cries of "Chupacabra!" the guards abandoned their posts, spreading the news among the other locals who were hired by Cobra, who set up an alarm.
It was enough of a distraction….until the first explosion rocked the compound.
Instead of disabling the troops further, it seemed to snap them out of their fear.
Lady Jaye met Duke at their appointed place. "Where's Snake Eyes?" she yelled in all the confusion. He managed to shrug before the first shot was fired.
Ducking, they ran for cover. She managed to pick up her comm. link and hear Cover Girl's voice, telling her they were okay, but on the other side of the compound.
Great! she thought sarcastically, sharing a frustrated look with Duke.
"How the hell are we going to get over there?" he groused, before the second explosion hit.
He grabbed her, forcing her down to the ground, his body covering hers, as the chaos exploded around them. His mind was focused on the events around them, but he couldn't help but be aware of how her body felt under his.
She felt breathless. She knew part of it was the force with which her body had hit the ground. The other, well, she didn't want to admit how she was enjoying the feel of his hard body against hers. She had glimpsed this feeling when they had danced together at the steak house, and she wasn't sure if she was ready for it. The last thing she needed right now was another relationship.
Where the hell had that thought come from? He was a friend and a colleague, she admonished herself. Now was not the time to be dwelling on it anyway!
He liked the feel of her under him - he was man enough to admit it. In another time, another place, he might have acted on it. He was tired of playing the nice guy and finishing last, just because he was afraid to take the next step. Silently, he vowed to see if he could take this further, but it would have to wait until the current crisis was over.
He released his grip on her body, rolling her to the side, now that the danger had passed. "Sorry," he murmured, not meaning it. He resisted the urge to pull her to him. Not now, he berated himself, focusing himself back on the mess they found themselves in.
She scooted closer to him. "How bad is it?" she whispered, her voice hoarse from the dust and dirt flying about.
"Pretty bad. I guess we found their base, huh?" he found himself joking.
"No shit, Sherlock," she replied, finding herself grinning back at him. "How the hell did we find ourselves here? I thought this was a no engagement!"
"I don't think Cobra got the memo," he muttered, his smile disappearing. "We're going to have to do something to get out of here! Try the comm. again."
She picked it up and tried to contact their separated comrades again.
"It's dead!" she said, disgusted, tossing it to the side. "Must've shorted out in the second explosion."
"I just hope they realize we're stuck in the middle of this," Duke muttered, pulling them down lower in the ditch, the gunfire flying right above their heads. "It'd be nice if they could give us a moment to get the hell out of the way!"
Lady Jaye was frustrated, but she knew they couldn't give up. With a practiced eye, she studied their current location. Duke had essentially thrown them both into a ditch once the explosion had occurred. The first explosion, meant to blow the wall where the others had been kept prisoner, had triggered others throughout the base.
"Guess they won't be using this base anymore," commented Duke wryly. "Not sure if this is how we wanted the mission to turn out. We're going to have to hunt the snakes down all over again!"
She felt a sharp pain in her arm, and glanced at her sleeve, surprised to see a small red stain. Duke noticed it before she could glance away and swore. "Let me see," he said in a no-nonsense voice.
"It's just a scratch," she told him, pulling away and examining it herself first. "Just stings, otherwise I wouldn't have noticed it." She had been caught by some of the flying debris from the second explosion, and it had cut her upper arm. Already the bleeding was slowing.
Duke knew she would downplay her injury, even it was serious, but he was relieved to see just a small gash.
"Okay," he breathed, "Let's try to get out of this mess."
Once again, she surveyed their surroundings and spotted something. Pulling on Duke's sleeve, she gestured to the left. "Where do you think this creek bed leads?"
He immediately understood. "Let's head in that direction, then."
Staying low, they crept along the dry bed, mindful of the dangers around them. They paused at a collapsed wall, realizing they could go no further. To climb over it would be putting them in direct fire from Cobra.
"We need one of those little white flags the cartoon characters wave so we can get out of here," muttered Duke.
"Bugs Bunny?"
He shook his head. "I was thinking more along the lines of Bullwinkle and Rocky."
She smiled. "Does that make me Natasha?"
"Only if I'm Boris," he quipped.
"How do you do that?" she asked him quietly after a moment.
"Do what?"
"Always seem to make me laugh, even in the middle of all this," she said with a gesture.
He shrugged.
Leaning forward, she gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. "Thanks," she told him gratefully.
He liked the feel of her lips on him, even if it was just his cheek. "No problem," he told her, wanting to grab her and give her a real kiss. Whoa boy, he told himself, let's get out of this mess first before you start letting your libido making decisions.
She sensed him before she saw him, and turned, her knife she always kept in her boot at the ready. Duke was right behind her, gun in hand.
Breathing a sigh of relief at the familiar form of the ninja, she lowered the knife. He gestured his thanks.
"Where are the others?" asked Duke.
*We managed to circle around. They're not too far, drawing Cobra's fire so we can get you out of here. Ready to go?* he signed.
The two scrambled out of the creek bed after him, staying low, wary of any stray bullets.
They met up with their teammates and uncovered the jeep that one of Lady Jaye's contacts had left for them. It would take them to the airstrip, where they would catch a flight back with Wild Bill, who was supposed to be there waiting for them.
The rest of the mission was uneventful, and the team remained silent, each lost in their own thoughts.
On the flight back, Lady Jaye questioned the other team members.
"Were you able to see anyone in charge?" She hoped to get something out of this mission, other than eliminating another base off their map. She couldn't see them repairing the base and staying at a place that was known to the Joes.
Cover Girl shook her head. "They basically threw us into the cell. It wasn't too long after that Snake Eyes came along and you guys set off the explosions."
"One explosion," corrected Duke. "Whatever the hell they were storing there set off the chain reaction."
"Anyway," she continued with a shrug, "I wish I could say we were bringing back more information than what we came in with, but other than locating the base….."
They fell silent, disappointed at the failure of their simple recon mission.
Lady Jaye stared out the window, lost in thought. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to find Courtney sitting next to her.
"Hey, don't take it so hard. It was just one of those things," she said, shrugging. "We at least now know one of their locations. With the transmitter, we'll be able to find others, right?" she asked softly. "The signal's still strong, according to Breaker and Gadget, so it's not like he's aware of it."
Lady Jaye nodded, but didn't speak.
She patted her friend's shoulder, secretly grateful she didn't have the burden of being in command on a mission. She knew Lady Jaye had enough pressure on her right now. She covertly glanced over at Duke, who was talking to Dusty in low tones. Duke would be the one to talk to her, she thought, having been there before to take the fall when a plan fell awry.
She caught Snake Eye's look and jerked her head in Lady Jaye's direction, then nodded towards Duke. She could tell the ninja was following her train of thought when he smiled. He slid next to Duke, tapping him on the shoulder. A quick conversation was signed, and then Duke crossed over the aisle next to where Lady Jaye was sitting.
"Hey," he began, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We accomplished what we came to do," he reminded her.
Lady Jaye knew he was trying to help. She turned towards him. "Yeah, but I feel like we just got thrown back to square one."
He shrugged. "It happens. We knew we were going in half blind. At least now Cobra is aware that we are watching them. That could work to our advantage."
She thought about that for a moment. "I guess," she said, suddenly exhausted. She realized his hand was still on her shoulder. She had an insane urge to lean her head on his shoulder and just let him carry her burden for awhile.
Stupid, she berated herself. You're just tired and disappointed. You don't need a man to take care of you anymore, right?
He wanted to pull her to him, to let her lean against him and just rest. She looked exhausted, although he knew she fought hard to hide it. He could tell it, he always could, just around her eyes. They would lose the sparkle and have a dull sheen to them, like they did now.
"We'll be home in a few hours," he told her. "Why don't you just relax until then? I think we're all going to do the same," he said, nodding at the others, who were leaning back against their seats, some with their eyes closed.
She gave him a tired smile, but turned to stare back out the window again. He repressed a sigh. Sometimes she was just too stubborn. He stared at her profile, realizing how much he'd like to strip away that barrier she put up between herself and others. A barrier she had created after Flint had left her, he realized.
He'd just have to find a way to get around it, he decided, before leaning back and resting his own eyes.
